Problem solving as selective blindness

Abram, Simone

Abstract

This article examines the practices associated with technical solutions to energy transitions. In particular, it considers the role of ‘problem solving’ as a partial view on the world with extraordinary influence. As the core epistemological practice of engineers, problem solving starts with selective framings of problems in which social or political conditions are taken as given. Engineering, as a form of applied science, therefore offers ethical choices that may be eclipsed by technical framings. This article highlights the reflexive practices of engineers engaged in modelling practices for energy transitions, who are addressing socio-technical problems in formally constrained ways that both enable and limit the thinkability of different future horizons.

Citation

Abram, S. (2024). Problem solving as selective blindness. Critique of Anthropology, 44(3), 256-275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275x241269606

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 19, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Sep 15, 2024
• Publication Date: Sep 15, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 21, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 20, 2024
• Journal: Critique of Anthropology
• Print ISSN: 0308-275X
• Electronic ISSN: 1460-3721
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 256-275
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275x241269606
• Keywords: energy modelling, ignorance, energy transition, partial visions, Contested transitions, energy futures
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2762835
• Additional Information: Special Issue: Contesting Transitions: New Directions in the Anthropology of Energy, Climate Justice, and Resource Imaginaries